NOTE: This first appeared July 15, 2006 in the Kitchener Record in a response to an editorial Dropping the ball in Caledonia; [Final Edition]
The Record. Kitchener, Ont.: Jul 8, 2006. pg. A.16

Abstract - "It would be erroneous to conclude that the [Dalton McGuinty] government has been successful in responding to the Caledonia crisis simply because no one has died. In truth, it is as much by good fortune as official design that someone in Caledonia has not been killed. More than a dozen Ontario Provincial Police have been injured in this dispute. Two television journalists were assaulted by ..."

The following Opinion is posted here with permission of the writer, Richard Powless . . .

First Nations wants justice on 'land thefts'

I must respond to the July 8 Record editorial, Dropping The Ball In Caledonia. Imagine if your land is taken from you without compensation and it takes the government over 100 years to acknowledge the theft. Then, the government offers to negotiate a settlement but only where it decides the validity of the claim and the value of compensation.

Imagine further that its offer is only 10 cents on the dollar of its real value and no compensation is offered for loss of land use, the destruction of the environment and the sale of underlying resources without your consent.

Many First Nations have waited over 100 years to settle land thefts -- I won't call them "land claims" because that signifies that First Nations no longer own the land. The issue is the length of time it takes for First Nations to achieve justice in this country.

The action taken at Caledonia was necessary because the federal and provincial governments have failed to deal with Six Nations citizens honestly and fairly, have failed to demonstrate the "honour of the Crown," as the Supreme Court called them to do. If this action had not been taken, it is unlikely anyone outside of Six Nations would have been made aware of the issue. It's the only way governments can be made to pay attention.

It's interesting and, in my view, racist that governments bought the land in question for $12.3 million, plus an increase for fair market value, but now only offer Six Nations and thousands of other First Nations communities across Canada less than 10 per cent of the fair market value of their own land.

If governments can come up with $12.3 million for 600 plots of land in just 130 days for land claimed by non-aboriginal people, imagine the full value of the Six Nations claim, where over 1,000 such thefts occurred from Lake Erie up to Elora -- the true fair value is in the billions and these "reparations" must be paid. If First Nations citizens can't get justice from the very governments who have a fiduciary obligation to protect them, then where can they go and what should they do? Caledonia is but one answer.

Richard C. Powless is a citizen of the Mohawk Nation, Six NationsTerritory at Grand River. He has worked at advancing aboriginal interests and rights for the past 28 years at the international, national, regional and local levels. He has been a senior advisor to 2 national chiefs and 2 regional chiefs and now works as a private contractor based in Ottawa.